Thoughts on Life and Christ from a Stay at Home Mom

Month: May 2012

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I’m typing this story with red kool-aid stained hands. This morning I attempted to dye my daughters hair pink with cherry kool-aid mixed with conditioner. I used two packets of kool-aid per girl and a good squirt of conditioner. I let the girls mix it up with a spoon and it seemed the longer they mixed, the more the conditioner separated into a watery grainy mess, so I recommend not stirring too much and putting it on immediately before the conditioner separates. Then I started mixing it into their hair and it was very drippy and I got some on the floor. After about two minutes, they started complaining that it was itchy and began scratching. So after five minutes, I put them both in the shower and we watched the water turn red at their feet. They got out, got dressed and I don’t see any pink hair. What a disappointment, maybe we didn’t keep it in long enough, but it was kind of fun to do an activity with them and our house smells great. I’ll have to go to the store and see if I can find some temporary pink hair dye and we’ll try it again.

Thoughts
The kids are really starting to look forward to summer, we will be starting homeschooling and I’m a little nervous about getting started correctly. I’m thinking of changing their tv schedule so that they watch less. It was really nice to sit and cuddle with my husband on the couch last night, I’ve been missing him lately. Prov has started waking Cara up in the mornings after we let her get up, they both like it. The girls are really going to have fun playing in the puddles later this morning, I think the kiddie pool filled up with water from the rain also, as soon as the sun comes out, I think I’ll send them outside with their rain boots on!

Exercise and Diet
It thundered and rained heavily this morning so I didn’t go for my long run, instead I told my husband he could sleep in while I watched the kids and I think I’ll go run after he wakes up. I’ll probably try to just get 5 miles in instead of 8. Yesterday was another good eating day! Today is going to be one of my two “cheat” days for the week. I have cinnamon rolls rising for breakfast and we will be having dessert after supper tonight (but those are the only two times I get to cheat today, not all day long!)

Goals
Sew up tear in the couch (for real this time)
Do some planning for homeschool and activities this summer
Family Fun Night
Relax and play
run
play piano
read books to kids
laundry/dishes/pick-up toys

Family Fun Night
We are going to start doing family fun nights on Saturdays at our home. This just means a bible memory verse, a game, and a dessert. Tonight we will be memorizing Proverbs 30:5 (make memory cards), playing bingo and making ice cream sundaes.

Reflection
It was good to spend time as a family today, I think it was all of our favorite part of the day. Prov made bingo a little difficult, she kept knocking people’s cards around which would mess up their markers. I took Cara and Hope out to pick wildflowers and we made bouquets, they picked so many we gave bouquets to our neighbors too. We also picked some blackberries and ate them on our ice cream tonight, yum! I tried to take the girls down to the river to play, but we saw a snake and left right away, I just don’t know this town we are in well enough to know if their snakes are poisonous or not, but I do know that water snakes usually are bad ones. Kept to the eating plan well and I ran about 4.5 miles this morning. Read stories, played with girls lots, I think they appreciated all the extra attention. They are sharing a bed tonight just because they want to, very sweet.

Yesterday was a good eating day and my run this morning went well. My friend wants me to go on a long run with her this weekend, 8 miles, I’m a little scared, my husband said he doesn’t mind watching the kids while I go.
Some cute things the girls did yesterday
-Prov spent quite a long time playing and laughing with a fly in the window.
-Cara covered herself in hair-tyes and accessories and rode her scooter through the house all morning. (Yesterday she told me she wants to be a stunt skateboarder and I told her to start out on her scooter.)
-We had to come home twice because we couldn’t get Cara’s shoes right before preschool. The first ones were too small, the next ones were two right feet (one her sister’s). The third pair she didn’t like, but she wore them anyway.
-After naptime, Prov insisted that I carry four stuffed animals to the couch along with her to cuddle.
-Hope has told me that she plans to marry Nicholas when she gets older, he has told her he is a farmer boy and he loves God (she really wants horses), so her criteria for a husband has been met by him.

Goals for Today
eat strictly low carb
spend time playing with girls
go to playgroup
make supper
sew up tear in couch
plan an at-home date night for my husband and myself
don’t play on the computer during my evening hours

1 Lord, you have been our dwelling place
throughout all generations.
2 Before the mountains were born
or you brought forth the whole world,
from everlasting to everlasting you are God.

3 You turn people back to dust,
saying, “Return to dust, you mortals.”
4 A thousand years in your sight
are like a day that has just gone by,
or like a watch in the night.
5 Yet you sweep people away in the sleep of death—
they are like the new grass of the morning:
6 In the morning it springs up new,
but by evening it is dry and withered.

7 We are consumed by your anger
and terrified by your indignation.
8 You have set our iniquities before you,
our secret sins in the light of your presence.
9 All our days pass away under your wrath;
we finish our years with a moan.
10 Our days may come to seventy years,
or eighty, if our strength endures;
yet the best of them are but trouble and sorrow,
for they quickly pass, and we fly away.
11 If only we knew the power of your anger!
Your wrath is as great as the fear that is your due.
12 Teach us to number our days,
that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

13 Relent, Lord! How long will it be?
Have compassion on your servants.
14 Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love,
that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.
15 Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us,
for as many years as we have seen trouble.
16 May your deeds be shown to your servants,
your splendor to their children.

17 May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us;
establish the work of our hands for us—
yes, establish the work of our hands.

Lord, you have been convicting me lately of spending my time more wisely. I think I’ve become rather addicted to the internet/blogging world and would like to spend my time being a better mom and wife instead. Teach me how precious time is and how quickly it slips away from us. Help me to spend today showing my children who You are, helping them to really get that You love them. I haven’t been doing well meeting my health goals either. I think I’m just going to try to go one entire day of eating healthy instead of a whole week. Give me the strength and discipline I need to say no today to bad food. Give me a passion to teach my children about You God. Help me not to waste my day on foolish decisions.

Goals for the Day:
Cook and de-bone turkey
no sugar or bread
do a devotional with Cara
mow the lawn tonight
go for a walk after mowing the grass to get the rest of my miles in?
keep the house mostly clean
finish the laundry
only check the computer once today after picking Hope up from school
spend 30 minutes reading books or just playing with kids.
sew up tear in couch

Today is my birthday. It started early at 5:00 am by an alarm pushing me out of bed to go run. Ran 3.7 miles with my best friend, then came home to my oldest daughter sleepily watching cartoons on the couch. My husband took the day off from work to get some errands done and to bless me on my day. Hope convinced me to let her stay home from school so she wouldn’t miss out on the fun. Spent the morning cleaning and baking for playgroup. I had to fight the girls hard to clean their rooms, finally got sick of yelling at them and just told them they couldn’t come out and play with their friends until their rooms were clean, that seemed to work. I made my own birthday cake (are mothers supposed to do that?) It was a lemon cake with blackberry vanilla icing, then I made bruschetta for playgroup. My friends came, the kids were loud and had fun playing together. It was good to laugh and talk the afternoon away. We had a new girl come today, she is from New Zealand and now lives in the States. After playgroup, I went and got my hair cut while DH watched the kids, then we ordered pizza and he put ALL the kids to bed. I think he has a massage planned for later. I am exhausted, I hardly feel like moving and I think I could fall asleep in my chair right now if I just closed my eyes. What a blessed day, my life is good, thank you Lord for my family and friends.

“To fully experience our fulfillment in Christ and fulfill His will for our lives, we must come to the point where we give our whole selves to Him –our freedom, our time, our bodies, all of our possessions and gifts–trusting Him to show us how to use all that we are for His glory. To sacrifice means to give up or surrender something of value. We are living sacrifices, which means that moment by moment, out of our worship of Him, we are to surrender our own needs and expectations for the greater value of pleasing our Lord…..He clearly states, again and again, that if we lose our lives for Him, we will find our lives–the joy and fulfillment we long for.”The Mission of Motherhood by Sally Clarkson

I’ve kind of been feeling the tug of my heart to go more this direction, but I’ve been ignoring it in favor of my own desires. To be honest, I know exactly what things I do in my life that are frivolous and don’t bring me satisfaction..only temporary amusement, but I keep doing them anyway just because I want to. Today I want to give my time to my daughters, I want to put puzzles together with them, spend an hour reading every book in the house, bake something delicious, teach them some bible stories and love on them all throughout the day without them having to beg for my attention.

God, help me to put my wants aside and go get what I really need. Help me to find my life. Show me what it really means to sacrifice my desires. Amen

Following God’s will has always been confusing for me, but I’m starting to figure out how to do it slowly and here are some tips that I have learned along the way that might help you. I think there are several different ways to follow God’s will depending on our situation and circumstances.

1. There are some general commands in the bible that are God’s will for everyone as a life purpose and we must use these to direct our lives. We are all called to evangelize through loving other people, this is to be one of our main goals in this life. Also we are all called to glorify God and to love Him forever.“Come, follow me,” Jesus said, “and I will make you fishers of men.” Mark 1:17

2. First and foremost, we must go to the bible. If the bible says something, then it is God’s will. For instance, the bible tells us not to murder. So no matter what we think, we should not murder someone. That is God’s will. We must weigh whatever we “think” God is telling us to do with the scripture and make sure they match. If they don’t match, it is a good sign that it is NOT God’s will.

3. If you are unsure about a decision, ask trusted Christian friends or elders for advice. It is very easy to get confused or emotionally wrapped up in something and a wise outside source is often a good idea.

4. The third way to follow God’s will is more vague and requires some faith. One of my friends described it to me by saying, “you have to hold your hand out and tell God that whatever He decides to place into your hand, you will obey, but be careful, if you say yes, He might give you something bigger to do next time and if you say no, He might not ask you again”. I thought it was crazy when she told me that, it was just too naive and trusting and I didn’t think God would speak to me that way, but I had to give it a try; I didn’t want to miss out on anything. So that evening I went for a walk and I actually held my hand out and asked God if He wanted to place anything in it. It didn’t happen immediately After waiting awhile, I passes a church and I felt strongly that God wanted me to go inside and pray. He didn’t tell me what to pray for, just to go inside and pray. I did not want to do it. I’d never been in that church before, I didn’t know anything about it, I didn’t even know anyone who went there. So I walked right by the church and told myself the door was probably locked and why would God ask me to do something so stupid anyway. Then I worried, “what if He doesn’t ask me to do anything again?” Can I take that risk? What if it REALLY is God talking to me and telling me this? So I turned around and went into the church (the door wasn’t locked), I went into the sanctuary, sat in one of the pews and just bowed my head and prayed about whatever came into my head. It wasn’t special or anything. That’s how it started with me, and now I try to keep my hands open to God and if I “feel” a sense that He is telling me to do something, I try to obey. I don’t always obey, sometimes I intentionally ignore Him and this is wrong. Even if I don’t understand the reasoning behind it, as long as it’s not against the bible, I obey. Usually it is something small, and often it is Him telling me to stay away from something that is harmful to me.And your ears will hear a word behind you, “This is the way, walk in it,” whenever you turn to the right or to the left. Isaiah 30:21

5. I think the 5th way that we need to consider God’s will is through signs and dreams. I do believe that God speaks to us this way, but I also think we need to be highly skeptical of this form of communication and test, test, test it because I think that Satan uses this against us too. Sometimes Satan gives us a dream or idea and makes us think it is from God when it is really from Satan. Or Satan will try to make us dependent on signs and not on trusting God alone to communicate with God.

6. Sometimes God doesn’t tell us what to do, we just have to decide for ourselves what we want to do (refer back to #1). Like for instance our career. We can pray to Him and ask Him what He wants us to do, and not get an answer, so we might have to wait or we might just have to choose something and trust that He will guide us gently where to go with it.

Following God’s will is not something to stress over too much, He is sovereign and will get you where you need to go, but make sure that your faith in Him is strong. Spend time with Him daily in His word and worshipping Him, the better you know Him, the easier it will be to listen to Him. God bless you on your journey..